YouTube experimenting with 3D

Google hopes profits will take a similar leap into reality

YouTube is testing out three-dimensional video clips, with a range of viewing options.

The prototype service is part of Google's '20 per cent' rule that allows staff to spend one day a week working on a personal project.

Larger than life

The test page - visible here - features a dull trade show video that you can choose to watch in several ways. Default is the traditional red/green display, requiring a pair of plastic glasses.

Other options include amber/blue colour shift, 'focus through' and the splendidly headache-inducing 'cross-eyed' method which, you guessed it, requires you to cross your eyes while peering at the screen. And hoping the wind doesn't change while you're doing it.

The most effective 3D method, used in the latest 3D digital cinemas, uses polarised light and spectacles and cannot be reproduced on traditional computer monitors.

And don't expect the main YouTube site to go 3D overnight: the Google worker responsible for the page is reported as saying that there won't be a speedy turnaround of any bugs.